the time between rulers; a space between; the gap after one epoch ends and another begins; the tumultuous and exciting period after scholarly boundaries become fluid and before new academic disciplines are fully defined; the blog of New York University's Draper Program

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Please be reminded that NYU's Graduate School of Arts and Science, by default, sends all notices to each student's nyu.edu account. If you use a different personal address, even if that address is on the Draper listserve, you may miss GSAS announcements. Please make sure that you regularly check your nyu.edu account, or that you have mail from that account forwarded to your personal email account.

Draper student April Pierce, along with co-author Lisa Backman, of Oxford University, will be presenting at the "Turning on Rights: Politics, Performance and the Text" conference at Albany this week/end. Their paper is entitled “Re-evaluating the Evaluative Question: Rights, Healthcare Reform, and Archetypes," and they'll be presenting it this Friday, April 16th, at 11:45am.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Department of Media, Culture, and Communication in Steinhardt has asked that we forward the following course descriptions to you. If you are interested in enrolling, please contact Robert Dimit (robert.dimit@nyu.edu) first to discuss your plans. Remember that only 8 credits can be applied to your Draper degree from schools outside of GSAS.

Visual culture studies visuality as a key component of globalization. By visuality, we mean the visualization of history, composed of images, ideas and the imagination. This class introduces present-day visualized globalization in historical context and offers students ways to research visual culture in the intersections between globalizations past and present. In the first half of the class, lectures and discussion trace the concept of visuality from its emergence in the 19th century to its uses in imperial regimes and the neo-visuality of the present. We consider how visuality imagines history as war, visible only to the Hero, or Great Man, and consider alternatives proposed by abolitionists, indigenous people, and the labor movement. The second half of the class will be a series of visual media-based workshops from painting and photography to film and digital media, discussing strategies and approaches to research as well as offering students the opportunity to use primary and archival materials. Students will develop a project proposal that might be developed into a thesis, article or mixed-media project.

The course focuses on the theories and methods of media/sensory ethnography, visual culture, media archeology, through the linked topics of transcultural and trans-local processes, diaspora identities, the post colonial and human rights. The curriculum is aimed at graduate and senior undergraduate students from diverse disciplines who want to explore creative media practice as a research methodology for their respective thesis projects and other research. This course provides students with theoretical and practical grounding in multi-sited action research in trans-cultural and transnational settings. Through social historical and trans-cultural ethnographic perspectives practice-led pedagogy promotes a self-reflexive contextual and critical understanding of the use of media for the conduct and dissemination of research and the creation of social knowledge through participatory cultural production. Practice-led research overcomes divisions between social theory and action-research, and between creative practice and evidence-based research. There will be a strong emphasis on comprehending visual phenomena in cross-cultural perspective and the creation of social knowledge through participatory cultural production.

Monday, April 12, 2010

This workshop is a mini-orientation session geared towards students who are either considering a Ph.D. or those who are already in the early stages of the application process. It is also relevant to students who are interested in general information regarding doctoral degrees and those who need some guidance as to what they should be prepared for in terms of the application process. Some general issues that will be tackled are:

-How do I know if a PhD is right for me?-Setting realistic expectations of the PhD process and future career trajectories.-Choosing a department as well as a university that is a good fit for me.-What to expect in terms of the contents and deadlines for a PhD application.-Using Draper as a resource for making decisions about a PhD and a career in academia.